"I Love You, Man" (R)Written by Larry Levin. Written and directed by John Hamburg.
Starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samburg, J.K. Simmons, Jaime Pressly, and Jon Favreau.
Released by Dreamworks Pictures.
Feature Running Time: 1 hr. 44 mins.
Rated R (for pervasive language, including crude sexual references).
I saw "I Love You, Man" a while back in theaters, and I instantly fell in love with it. I recently got the chance to watch the film for a second time, and I completely see why I fell in love with it. It's hilarious, well-acted, and heartfelt. It's like a Judd Apatow film without Judd Apatow's name attached to it. It even includes some usual players in Apatow's troupe - Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.
The film's script is delightful. John Hamburg did a terrific job idenifying his character's various mannerisms, which included funny scenes of Peter (Paul Rudd) trying to say cool and slick comments to Syndey (Jason Segel), and the comments sounding ridiculous and weird. But in a good way, that was the point. Hamburg's script is one of the very best comedy scripts of the last decade or so. The dialogue is as close to perfect as possible.
The characters in the film are all likable and different from one another. I loved the chemistry between Rudd and Segel. The pair, who appeared on screen together before in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", are so great here. They have bromantic chemistry that a lot of ROMANTIC films can't find these days; *cough* "The Proposal" *cough*. But it's not just the dynamic performances from Rudd and Segel that make the film, but also some of the supporting ones. J.K. Simmons plays Peter's open-minded, outpoken father. Andy Samburg plays the non-stereotypical gay brother of Peter. Rashida Jones plays Zooey, Peter's beautiful, soon to be bride. Jaime Pressly plays Zooey's best friend Denise, and Jon Favreau plays Denise's dickheaded husband Barry. Lou Ferrigno even scores laughs playing himself. And Thomas Lennon keeps the laughs coming as a gay friend of Peter.
"I Love You, Man" has one of the best ensemble casts of the year, or any year for that matter. Everyone provides at least one BIG laugh. But not only the comedy works in "I Love You, Man". The film has a big heart. It's a very sweet and sincere film. The film may be somewhat familiar, but you can quote me on this, "I Love You, Man" is the "Pulp Fiction" of bromantic comedies. How's that for a title.
I find it hard to find a major flaw in "I Love You, Man". Everything that you want out of a comedy is here, and more. It's hilarious, sweet, smart, extremely entertaining, well-acted, well-written, well-directed, well, everything. A true gem of its genre, and also a very rewatchable treat, "I Love You, Man" is one of the very best films of the year. Man, I Love this movie.
I agree with you here. It's a somewhat formulaic comedy, but it proves that a simple film can still have tremendous life when it has smart writing and great performances. It's the best comedy of the year so far -- I liked it much better than The Hangover.
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